Parasitologists from ESCCAP (European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasites) have been voicing their concern over the implications of the imminent changes to the UK's DEFRA-run Pet Travel Scheme (PETS).

Under the new regulations, which take effect from Jan 2012, tick control will no longer be mandatory. According to ESCCAP, a recent study has demonstrated that a population of exotic tick species has already become established in the south-east of England¹. With up to 15,000 animals travelling under PETS each month, the possibility of exotic ticks (and their associated tick-borne diseases) entering and establishing in the UK becomes increasingly likely. The European Parliament has yet to rule on mandatory tapeworm control. The decision will impact on the future distribution of, and disease threat from, Echinococcus multilocularis.

ESCCAP UK is advising all veterinary surgeons to discuss the risks with their clients and to ensure they make an informed decision about tick control when the new legislation comes into effect.

In addition, the UK branch of ESCCAP is holding a free seminar in Bristol on 28^th October to highlight the role that veterinary practices can play in helping clients understand how the changes could impact upon their pet's health.

ESCCAP says the seminar will provide all the information clinicians need to have an informed dialogue with clients. Presentations will provide an overview of the impact of the changes to PETS in relation to rabies, Echinococcus and ticks, as well as advice about how to communicate the information to pet owners and the tools and support available.

Additional support includes ESCCAP UK's website http://www.esccapuk.org.uk/, which offers updates on the PETS situation, guidelines for parasite control programmes and podcasts for veterinary surgeons, nurses and pet owners. 

The seminar takes place at Engineers' House, The Promenade, Clifton Down, Bristol 
BS8 3NB.

To register, telephone: 01684 568998, or email: info@esccapuk.org.uk

Reference
1. Smith F D, Ballantyne R, Morgan E R, Wall R (2011) Prevalence, distribution and risk associated with tick infestation of dogs in Great Britain. Medical and Veterinary Entomology. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2011.00954.x

WellVet Virtual, the day-long virtual wellness conference for veterinary professionals, has re-opened ticket sales for its recorded sessions after what the organisers describe as the 'overwhelming success of the event'. 

The conference, which was held on 23rd May, brought together over 360 veterinary professionals for online sessions which provided them with a range of wellbeing tools to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.

The organisers say that in addition to delivering wellbeing CPD, they aimed to create community and connection. Co-organiser, vet Nat Scroggie, said: "The conference app platform was chosen for delegates to feel included and network freely with one another and session leaders. With over 2400 messages on the community board and 400 photos uploaded the feedback we’ve had about how positive the experience was for delegates has gone beyond our hopes. We’ve seen new working groups forming and a genuine sense of camaraderie around current challenges."

WellVet has reopened ticket sales which give access to session recordings and the conference community app until May 2021. Tickets are £55, discounted to £15 for students and year 1 graduates, available at: https://www.wellvet.co.uk/tickets. The box office will close on 30th August 2020. 

Wood Green, The Animals Charity and TotallyMoney.com have launched the Cost of Christmas Pets calculator to help prospective pet owners understand the total lifetime financial commitment involved with owning an animal.

According to the calculator, the most expensive animal is - by virtue of its longevity - the tortoise (£27,787 over 75 years), followed by a small dog (£19,224 over 15 years), a large dog (£17,234 over 11.5 years) and a medium-sized dog (£16,828 over 11.5 years). A cat comes in at £12,322 over 16 years. A chicken will set you back £4,701 (it's not clear whether they've offset the money you'll save in eggs). The cheapest is a fish, at £914.

The RCVS Charitable Trust is offering up to 10 grants worth around £500 each, to support UK veterinary surgeons looking to pursue themes of clinical or non-clinical research involving short-term visits to veterinary or medical centres, or research institutes, outside the UK.

The Travel Awards are open to registered members of the RCVS, as well as to candidates registered for a PhD at a UK veterinary school. The awards are available for up to 12 months from the award date, and awards cannot be made for projects taking place before 31 October 2011.

The successful candidates will be asked to submit an article to the veterinary press and provide the Trust with a diary record including photographs, and/or short video.

All applications must be received by 5pm on Monday 31 October 2011.

Further information including full application criteria, is available from www.rcvstrust.org.uk/grants/

Alternative, contact grants@rcvstrust.org.uk or call 0207 202 0741.

The British Veterinary Association is asking members to put themselves forward as candidates in the upcoming elections for BVA Council.

In eight of the 12 regions BVA is seeking regional representatives who are willing to gather and represent the views of their peers as part of the BVA's policy-making process.

Nominations opened on 4 November in Northern Ireland, Wales, North-East, North-West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, and London and will run for six weeks (until Friday 13 December).

The remaining four regions (Scotland, South-East, South-West, and East of England) will be up for election in 2015 to allow for a level of continuity on BVA Council. 

BVA President Robin Hargreaves said: "BVA Council is the overarching policy-making body at BVA and its success depends in large part on the fantastic work of our regional representatives who ensure that every member of our association has the ability to feed in their views and ideas.

"We're looking for people who enjoy getting involved in current issues and who will work hard to put forward the views of their colleagues and to disseminate information out to the wider membership."

Application packs, including an information sheet, role description, and application form, are available to download from the BVA website www.bva.co.uk/council

Candidates in each of the eight regions will be announced shortly after the closing date. The election process will be run by the Electoral Reform Services on behalf of BVA and all members within a region will be eligible to vote. The election will run from Monday 13 January until Friday 21 February. Winning candidates will take up their role at the April Council meeting.

Petplan has announced the winners of its 2012 Veterinary Awards.

The awards recognise and celebrate staff and practices throughout the country that have delivered an exceptional level of care to the nation's pets and their owners.

Isabella von Mesterhazy, Petplan's Head of Marketing said: "Britain is known to be an animal-loving nation and pets play a central part in family life. The Petplan Veterinary Awards give us the opportunity, on behalf of all pet owners across the UK, to thank the veterinary profession for the outstanding service they provide."

She added: "This was the 13th year of the awards and we received over 3,000 nominations, a record number for the vet awards, which really highlights the high regard that the profession and pet owners have for these awards. We had an outstanding field of finalists and I'd like to congratulate all the winners who thoroughly deserve their title."

The winners for each category are:

VET OF THE YEAR - Zaila Dunbar, Queens Park Veterinary Clinic, London (pictured holding her award)
What really stood out was Zaila's brilliant balance of medical knowledge and emotional empathy. She was described as an immensely caring and compassionate vet who goes above and beyond the call of duty.

VET NURSE OF THE YEAR - Lucy Kells, Wildlife Aid Foundation, Leatherhead
Lucy's dedication and inspiring manner put her above the other finalists. She is described as leading by example and always striving for improvement. Some of her colleagues have even dubbed her the 'Florence Nightingale of the animal world.'

VET SUPPORT STAFF OF THE YEAR - Sarah Bowler, Holly House Veterinary Surgery, Knutsford
Sarah's genuine and sincere attitude towards her job and the dedication shown towards her practice really stood out for this year's independent panel of judges.

VET PRACTICE OF THE YEAR - Eastcott Veterinary Hospital, Swindon
Eastcott's involvement with the community really impressed the judges, which includes charity fund raising. The veterinary hospital recently organised a Team Adventure Challenge raising £10,000 for guide dogs.

For further information please visit www.petplan.co.uk

The RCVS is seeking nominations for its 2014 Honours and Awards Round, and wants to hear about any individuals, of whatever age or experience, who have made an outstanding contribution to the profession.

The annual Honours scheme comprises two distinct and prestigious types of award: Honorary Fellowships for RCVS-registered veterinary surgeons and Honorary Associateships for non-veterinary surgeons. Both sets of awards are presented each year at RCVS Day - the College's AGM and award ceremony in London.

The College says it is keen for the Fellowship nominations net to be cast as widely as possible in order to offer recognition of veterinary achievements not only in more traditional fields like academia and clinical practice, but also in science, education, industry and politics.

In addition, Honorary Fellowship nominees no longer need to have been an RCVS member for 30 years, meaning that younger veterinary surgeons who have gone significantly above and beyond the call of duty will also be eligible for consideration.

Honorary Associateships are intended to celebrate the achievements of those who have contributed to the health and welfare of animals by working in fields related to the veterinary profession, and could be from a similarly wide range of backgrounds, for example, veterinary nurses, scientists, lecturers, farriers, charity workers, farmers, conservationists or those in industry and commerce.

Nick Stace, RCVS Chief Executive, said: "At my first RCVS Day this summer, I was hugely impressed with the calibre of candidates who received our awards, and delighted we were able to formally mark their achievements. The veterinary profession has a lot of talented people who deserve to be recognised for the contribution they have made, whether in science and academia, or in politics and clinical practice. Everyone knows someone who is worthy of this kind of recognition and I urge you to take the next step and nominate them for an award."

There are no restrictions on who can make a nomination, although the closing deadline is 13 September 2013. Full details on how to make a nomination are available at www.rcvs.org.uk/honours.

Scientists at the Royal Veterinary College, contributing to a programme to tackle some of the most harmful and widespread endemic diseases that commonly affect farmed animals in the UK, have developed a severity estimation calculator for post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS).

Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) is a common disease of young pigs in the U.K. It is extremely debilitating, causes considerable suffering and poor welfare, and has a high mortality of up to 30%. It is estimated that the disease costs the UK farming industry £30m per year.

The £2.4m project - headed by Professor Dirk Werling from the Royal Veterinary College and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) through its "Combating Endemic Diseases For Farm-Animal Sustainability" programme (CEDFAS), the British Pig Executive (BPEX), and two industrial partners, Pfizer Ltd (UK) and BioBest - aims to identify why PMWS occurs and to develop new methods of controlling the disease.

One key-component of the project is the direct involvement of British pig farmers, thereby guaranteeing that pigs in Britain will be the first to benefit from this research, while collaboration with a major international pharmaceutical company will ensure that new veterinary products will be made available to pig farmers worldwide.

Now, two members of the team, Dr. Barbara Wieland and Pablo Alarcon-Lopez, a second year PhD student, have developed a novel approach to quantify severity of PMWS based on morbidity and mortality data and presence of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). They applied factorial analyses, using data collected from 147 pig farms in England to identify variables contributing to variation in PMWS severity in a biologically meaningful way.

Together with other known variables linked to PMWS, the resulting factors were used to derive an algorithm for PMWS severity. The derived algorithm was used to develop a PMWS severity calculator, which now can be used by farmers directly to assess the PMWS severity on their own farm (http://www.bpex.org.uk/articles/300874).

The levels of PMWS severities identified on farm level can now be used to identify risk factors related to the different severity-categories, to assess the efficacy of PCV2 vaccination and to investigate the economic impact of potential control measures on a farm.

The Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) has published a special virtual edition with a free collection of 20 articles exploring the relationship between horse-owner behaviour and equine health and welfare.

Until now, research in equine veterinary science has focused primarily on the information needed to prevent and cure disease, with little attention paid to the attitudes and actions of horse owners, veterinary surgeons, and numerous other professionals to implementing science-based advice.

This special EVJ collection showcases studies that seek to understand horse owner behaviour around their horse’s health, supplementing clinical evidence with information about the real-life behaviours of equine owners and professionals and the factors that influence them.

It includes papers on horse owner knowledge and opinions on recognising colic, treating infectious disease, uptake of some of the most basic preventive health measures such as vaccination and deworming as well as attitudes and behaviour around equine obesity and laminitis.

Other studies highlight the importance of professionals other than vets such as farriers, equine podiatrists, physiotherapists, dental technicians, chiropractors, and equestrian organisations such as the British Horse Society.

Guest Editor Tamzin Furtado added: “As our understanding of the drivers of behaviour develops, pre-existing behaviour change models will help us to understand the barriers and enablers to uptake.

“With dissemination of this knowledge, we have a better chance of communicating effectively and implementing change that will have a positive impact on equine welfare at individual, community, and national level.”

Professor Celia Marr, Editor of the EVJ said: “This collection is both compelling and eye-opening.

"It is dangerous to assume an understanding of the motivators of horse owner behaviours and actions; these papers confirm the current lack of comprehension, providing an invaluable insight, which will ultimately help us to accelerate improvements in equine veterinary practice and, most importantly, equine welfare.”

The virtual issue can be found at https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1001/(ISSN)2042-3306.owner-behaviours and will be free to view until 26 December 2022.

The BVA has welcomed reports that the Government will consult on a cull of badgers in areas worst affected by bovine tuberculosis

Professor Bill Reilly, President of the British Veterinary Association, said: "Reports that the Government wishes to move forward with a badger cull to tackle the spread of bovine TB in England are very welcome. The BVA has been championing the need to tackle the spread of the disease in wildlife for some time and we are delighted that the Government has listened to these calls.

"Bovine TB is a devastating disease in many parts of the UK and action must be taken to halt the spread.

"The BVA will consider the proposals in the consultation carefully, including any detailed information on how a cull will be managed. It absolutely must be humane, targeted in the right places and well managed.

"Whatever the Government proposes must be part of a package of measures to control the disease including controls in both cattle and wildlife."

The International Federation on Ageing has published Companion Animals and the Health of Older Persons, a report described as the most extensive literature review to date of research undertaken in the field of companion animals and the health of older people, made possible through an educational sponsorship from Bayer Healthcare.

The report provides a comprehensive literature review into the ways pets contribute to the physical and mental health of individuals and the well-being of our broader society, citing studies which found:

• companion animals are associated with increased self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive moods and lower levels of loneliness (El-Alayli et al, 2006). 
• quiet company between humans and pet dogs has been observed to lower the person's blood pressure and increase the levels of neurochemicals linked to relaxation and bonding (Filan and Llewelyn-Jones, 2006). 
• pets can ameliorate bereavement for older people (Raina et al, 1999; Garrity et al, 1989; Bolin, 1987). 
• half of all dog owners (and just under half of pet owners in general) confirm that they meet people in their neighbourhood as a result of their pet and more than 80 percent of dog owners talk to other people when out walking their dogs (Wood et al,2005) 
• a marked reduction in agitation and aggression in human dementia patients treated with Animal-Assisted Therapy (various studies).
• an increase in pro-social behaviour such as alertness, increased frequency of touch, verbalisation and smiles amongst dementia patients in residential programs. Each of these behaviours was observed to improve over time (Perkins et al, 2008). 
• pet owners access health services via their GP approximately 10% less than non-pet owners (Headey and Grabka, 2003) 
• estimated cost savings to the health care system attributed to companion animals in 2000 of 5.59 billion Euros in Germany and $3.86 billion in Australia. 

Dr Jane Barratt from the International Federation on Ageing said: "This field of research has important implications across generations and also for the future of our broader society. Many studies have broadly discussed how pets, such as dogs and cats, contribute to health by reducing anxiety, loneliness and depression, but until today, have not yet been published in a single resource. This new report advances our understanding of the value of companion animals in the framework of human health and the broader society."

In the report, investigators acknowledge that the current data on human-companion animal interactions are often predicated on anecdotal evidence and scant qualitative and quantitative data, with poorly-constructed and poorly-controlled study design. This may account in part for the conflicting results found in a number of different studies. Nonetheless, they argue that based on current evidence of considerable positive potential for the health of older individuals, and the associated health and welfare benefits for local communities and societies, more research time and energy should be directed towards this area of research. In particular, they say, there should be much greater involvement from veterinary surgeons, who are well placed to be consulted in studies of companion animals and older people’s attachment, affection and bonding capacities, well-being and social capital.

Ferenc Polz, Head of Bayer Animal Health said: "The therapeutic benefit of companion animals is an area of study attracting increasing interest among health and social science professionals and this sponsored report is yet another example of the life changing potential of human and animal relationships."

A study carried out at the University of Leicester's School of Psychology has found that disagreeable younger people are more likely to prefer aggressive dogs, confirming the conventional wisdom that dogs match the personality of their owners.

Researchers found that low agreeableness was the best predictor of a preference for those dogs seen as more aggressive, such as bull terriers or boxers. Individuals low in agreeableness are typically less concerned with others' well-being and may be suspicious, unfriendly and competitive.

However, the study found no link between liking an aggressive dog and delinquent behaviour, or the possibility that liking an aggressive dog is an act of 'status display' to show off or attract romantic partners.

Dr Vincent Egan, lead researcher on the study, said: "This type of study is important, as it shows assumptions are not the whole picture. It is assumed owners of aggressive dogs (or dogs perceived as aggressive) are antisocial show-offs. But we did not find persons who expressed a preference for aggressive dogs had committed more delinquent acts, or reported showing off more.

"However, we did find a preference for a dog with an aggressive reputation was related to being younger and being lower in agreeableness (i.e., being less concerned with the needs of others, and being quicker to become hostile)."

The study looked at the reasons why some people prefer aggressive dog breeds. Professor Egan explained: "A lot of human behaviour involves status display and dominance, and evolutionarily this helps with finding mates. Basic personality also influences a lot of our behaviour. By measuring both at the same time, we could see whether they each had an influence on liking aggressive dogs, or whether one was due to another.

"We were surprised mating effort did not have an influence here, but think it might be because we looked at a wider age range. A preference for a non-aggressive dog may also make a statement about a person; liking a pedigree Labrador or a clipped Poodle may be as much a statement as having a pit-bull with a studded collar."

In the study, participants indicated their preference for different types of dogs, and filled in personality tests. The dogs were independently rated according to how aggressive people perceived them to be. Bull terriers were rated as most aggressive, followed by boxers; retrievers and cocker spaniels were seen as least aggressive.

Analysing the findings, the research team found that certain personality factors indicated a preference for dogs perceived to be more aggressive. Low agreeableness and higher conscientiousness were related to a preference for aggressive dog breeds. Younger people were also more likely to prefer the aggressive breeds.

Surprisingly, the results indicated a small effect suggesting that those who liked aggressive dogs showed signs of conscientiousness - being careful, reliable and thoughtful about their actions. This contradicts the perception that owners of aggressive dogs are always irresponsible.

Dr Egan said: "These results with conscientiousness were unexpected, but the effect is a small one, and needs to be repeated in a different group of people. Studies of this kind tend to only look at a restricted age ranges, which may exaggerate findings which do not occur across the entire lifespan, so we believe a stereotype is always true, whereas it may only be true under certain conditions. Our study employed a broader age range.

"We were surprised to find a small association between a preference for aggressive dogs and greater conscientiousness (i.e., valuing and following rules). However, dogs also prefer rules and firm boundaries themselves. We speculate that cheap dog-training classes would be enjoyable and beneficial for both dog and owner."

The findings were published last week in the journal Anthrozoos.